1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to improved data processing systems and in particular to methods and systems for interfacing a data processing system and a video broadcast system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to methods and systems for selectively capturing and storing textual or numeric information within broadcast video signals for subsequent utilization in communication establishment a data processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The state-of-the-art is advancing very rapidly in broadcast video systems. For example, interactive television systems are now commonly described in technical bulletins and disclosures which permit the viewer to interact with the broadcast signal on several levels. For example, bilateral communication is possible with certain cable television systems which permits a user to transmit purchase orders, survey responses, or other information back to a central data gathering point. Additionally, broadcast television systems are now proposed which permit a user to impact the eventual outcome of a broadcast play or a game by selecting various options at multiple points within the story line, and thereafter incorporating those selections into the utilization of a particular broadcast selection.
Additionally, techniques are now commonly utilized which permit the analog data representative of a frame of video image to be digitized and stored for subsequent utilization. This technique is commonly utilized to digitize images captured by a video camera for printing on articles of clothing or in more sophisticated systems for capturing information, such as stock market quotations, weather reports or other data for later utilization by the subscriber.
For example, Research Disclosure, January 1989, No. 297 by Kenneth Mason Publications Limited, England, describes a so-called "frame grabber" which captures an image from a television broadcast signal approximately every four seconds, digitizes that captured image, and then scans the capture image to interpret the image data for use in internal character and number form. This particular system is focused on the utilization of a small portion of the bottom of the video frame and is described as particularly useful in capturing stock market quotations which are typically broadcast in that portion of the screen.
Despite these advances in the ability of modern systems to interact with a broadcast video signal, the data thus captured must still be manually recalled and interpreted by a user. This is particularly cumbersome in situations in which telephone numbers, addresses, or electronic addresses are broadcast as part of a video signal and the user desires to capture that visually perceptible data and utilize that information to automatically establish communications via telephone or post office systems.
It should therefore be apparent that a need exists for a method and system whereby visually perceptible text or numeric data may be captured from a video broadcast signal, extracted and automatically utilized to establish communications in a data processing system.